


The Cat Returns 2: The Return Of The Baroness

by Valentine20xx



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns, Princess Tutu
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-07-31 06:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20110690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: When Baron was busy with dealing with Renaldo Moon, the community that had filled the Refuge was stolen. Now, years later, Baron finds himself with a very curious situation, since, somehow, Haru has, quite by accident, found the Refuge...





	1. An Ending, A Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Unlike when I posted this on FFn, I have outright stated the subtitle, 'The Return Of The Baroness'. I will state the _form_ of the pairing, but there is still something I'm not telling right now.
> 
> I will admit to borrowing some elements from Catsafari's Bureau Files over how Creation Magic works, mainly the fact that excessive use of magic has the potential to cause a Creation to unmake itself, and expanding that to cover also items created and/or owned by Creations, in that all creations imbue a small amount of themselves into their possessions, similar to how everyone leaves a small amount of themselves in how they decorate and furnish their home, creating something unique.  
An example of that is how Baron's tea recipe is never the same twice, whether made by Baron or someone else. It was created as such, so it _**will**_ be.__

**Kinkan Island**

Time had no meaning for Kinkan Island, after it’s overseer, the author, Drosselmeyer, committed one of the most reprehensible acts a Creator could. He’d created in his own image, effectively granting himself immortality through his own creations. That meant that, whatever they did, he still had overall Creative Control over the inhabitants of the entire island.

Baron steeled himself as they made a visit that happened all too often. He knew why his lover had become quite the scholar over Drosselmeyer’s books. She’d picked apart every single one of his plots, planning to weaken the hold he had over the island. The reason was short, gangly-armed and… She’d wanted to adopt her the moment she met her.

“Good day to you as well, Ahiru...” He said, smiling as small arms wrapped around him, “What seems to be the problem this time?”

She simply handed him a book. Princess Tutu. A quick glance through it made him mildly lose his temper. He didn’t show it though. He was in public. Decorum must be kept.

“Ah.” was all he said, handing it to Louise. She slid it into her bag. She’d rip it apart, figuratively, later. When the girl in front of her wouldn’t see it. Neither of them liked to show their angry side to her. She simply directed them towards Drosselmeyer’s home.

“What’s wrong, cats?” Drosselmeyer stated, “You knew she was part of the stories, everyone here is...”

“Even for you, this is a new low...” Louise spat, “But that’s all this is to you. You want to eclipse the Brothers Grimm for making ‘realistic’ fairy tales, so now you cannot get it into your thick skull that happiness exists… You decided to turn the sweetest, kindest girl on the island _into a duck for eternity_ just because otherwise, she might ruin The Prince And The Raven for your dwindling public...”

“What if I chose a cat instead?” Drosselmeyer asked with a smirk, “I know why you’re particularly invested in her, she's an outlier for my protagonists, so cute and endearing, both of you know I wouldn't do anything less… I will make you a deal. You give me an acceptable alternative to the ending of Princess Tutu, I will give her over to you,”

Louise scowled, taking out a pen, and writing something in the back of the copy of Princess Tutu she was holding, before handing it to Drosselmeyer. He contemplated what she wrote, then smiled.

“Exiled… Hmm… Her powers lost… Yes, Yes… I can work with that,” Drosselmeyer mused, “We will be in contact. But you know the side effects...”

He then disappeared to go back to his writing.

“A deal with the devil is still a deal...” Louise sighed, “It will not happen in the near future, but it will suffice, hopefully...”

“What did you offer?” Baron stated.

“When you see Ahiru again, you will know...” Louise offered, “But, until then...”

Years later, he still didn’t know what she meant, or why they didn’t go back there again...

**The Bureau, Sometime ** **Later,**

The fateful week began as it usually did. He was working late on his paperwork, something that he was being reminded of by the fact he’d got his reading glasses out over an hour ago. But he’d got terribly behind on it, due to several cases happening back-to-back, and he didn't want to disturb anyone.

He heard a creak, along with a muttered comment about needing to oil the hinges. He kept decorum, not wanting to mention that the creak was effectively etched into the hinge's design at this point, and could not be solved by normal methods. It was similar to the Police Box design of the TARDIS.

Nothing would stop that hinge creaking. Period. And that was part of the charm of it. Also, if it didn’t creak, no-one would know she’d got up.

"Humbert, Do you understand what sleep is?" Louise asked as she slid out of her alcove, picking up the stack of cards he'd just finished writing, plucking a pen from next to her, before sighing, "I don't know what's worse… That ballet teacher at Kinkan Island or The Cat King. Both of them tried to chat me up...”

Baron’s eyebrow raised at her mentioning what had become somewhat of a forbidden subject. The cards she'd been reading went into her pocket, after she'd done a few more annotations, and he knew they'd be up on the cork board beside the entrance to Louise's Tea House by the end of the week.

After a brief pause, she pulled herself up and into the padded space beside her, then it closed back up, and there was a soft click. After a few more minutes, he was upstairs sleeping. Creations, even those in a close relationship, didn't sleep with each other often.

It was not like with mortal beings, where they always tried to create a successor. They did not… often die, so didn't need to. They knew they were in love, so small things like ‘eternal marriage’ and engaging in carnal acts wasn't needed. Just the intimacy of their by-play before they both went to sleep was enough for a Creation.

The people of the Refuge knew they were deeply in love, and they did as well. That was all that mattered to Baron and Louise, just like every other Creation. They would not be separated by mortal concerns.

The following morning, Baron looked towards a set of lights, the discreet part of a security net over the entire Refuge. noticing two of them light up, smiling at the fact they lit up green. A green light was expected operation, whatever set it off being exactly what was expected at that moment in that location. A yellow light meant abnormal operation, like two or three people passing through the same area. A red light meant a sizeable group or heavily laden, which guaranteed intruders.

One went out as he collected the newspaper and mail, the sensor being also how he knew someone had come to the Bureau, the other acknowledged as Baron tipped his hat to Toto, who lightly bowed to him, which let him know his only associate was back from whatever errand he sent him on.

The only other part of the security system allowed him to seal the archway into and out of the Refuge, the Creations inside waiting until the lights turned yellow then went out entirely. Many Creation settlements had been lost when they didn't keep a weather eye on the people moving near to it's location.

Louise opened up her sleeping area, getting her clothes out of the drawer she put them in, at Baron's behest, before wrapping her arms around him, giving him a light kiss, reminding him of why he didn't mind in reality. That he never actually used it for paperwork was not mentioned. It had only ever been where her clothes went.

"What did I do to deserve such a great lover?" Louise purred, Baron smiling, about to respond when he heard a commotion outside.

"Baron, I have news from the outside. They're replacing the roof area on some of the paths into the Refuge!" He heard someone call, cursing, since it would mean, at best, false signals for hours, or worse, an attempted breach.

He looked towards Toto, who headed out to fly over the paths, check for anything out of the ordinary, ready to plan for replacing the security net, Louise picking up an old-style set of headphones.

"We will be closing the Refuge except to essential travel for the next few hours, due to the security net being disrupted by routine works..." Baron stated, "I will need to be reapplying the enchantments in affected areas for the entire period, since, otherwise, I will not be able to tell when foot traffic reaches normal levels..."

"We can't close down today. I have deliveries planned, and it's not easy to reschedule!" One of the shopkeepers stated, Baron sighing.

"_Hopefully, your delivery will not be using the normal entrance..._" Baron almost snapped, but kept his decorum instead, "I already will be having Toto talk me through gaps in the security net. Unless there's some kind of other emergencies..."

He went to the security system, turning the key to 'Lock', then 'Test', several light bulbs not lighting up. This was worse than he thought. He could hear a lot of dissent about the sealing of the Refuge. As he looked through his letters, he cursed, cycling it back, having to ignore the lights. There was a Case.

"Remind me never to say that ever again..." He groused to Louise, "The Cat King wants me urgently to deal with a major fish thief,"

“I’ll be in the tea shop...” Louise stated bluntly. She didn’t want to go on the case. He'd need to be operating the Bureau from a different location for a few hours, which was exactly what he didn’t want to be doing. He gave Louise a hug, sending her off before he began the process of moving to the Cat Kingdom to help deal with a fish thief, telling the people who had business outside the refuge how to manually seal it. Hopefully, they'd listen to him...

When he got back, terribly late and with a new Bureau member, due to the nature of the exile of 'Muta', he found the Refuge had been found by opportunistic thieves, likely having noticed it due to the entrance being wide open and the construction work being way too close for comfort. There was practically nothing left.

Baron sighed as he closed and locked Louise's crawlspace, looking towards where she had been working. He'd reapply the enchantments later, moving them from being on things like roof tiles that could be disturbed by normal works, as he'd planned, before closing the Bureau outright.

Unlike how he'd planned to be doing it, with Louise talking him through it spot by spot, he had to do the checks manually, and took twice as long. Not that it mattered. He sent a missive out, stating the Bureau was no longer able to take calls, due to the fact the Refuge was badly weakened, and he didn't know how long it would be before it would be up to full strength.

He spent the following months thinking about what he could have done to protect the Refuge better, like doing the upgrade he'd just done much earlier, while finishing his seemingly endless supply of paperwork. He'd deal with the repercussions of what happened when the time came...

From that day forward, Toto and Muta were omnipresent, Muta guiding people to the Refuge if they looked like a genuine client, which were few and far between, while Baron had magically hidden, from both sight and memory, the crawlspace, while he collected his file cards in a compartment on his desk. He knew that, other than what paperwork he had in the Bureau itself, Almost all of the Bureau's golden age was now nothing but a collection of random smudges on large rectangles, with smaller rectangles with squiggles on them.

Baron knew that from seeing a prominent Creation's former home. He had been lost during one of his misadventures, and those who were in his home had to watch as pictures of him with his friends were reduced to vague suggestions of their contents, certificates of his accomplishments reduced to the logo and a few lines of squiggles. Some of the items were granted new magic from new owners, but the unclaimed manuscripts, that he'd hand-written, were lost, along with the house itself during the recent incident.

His lethargic non-existence had been broken when the Cat King had stuck his nose into mortal affairs again, and he found himself dealing with a spirited young individual who was bogged down by the mundane nature of the world. He could tell that Haru was not just some normal girl, just from the fact she didn't even react in any meaningful way to the fact cats talked.

The Doolittle Phenomena hadn't appeared in someone in years, the phenomena named after a man who found a parrot Creation, the original Polynesia, who had passed on her magic to him, allowing him to speak to animals. No-one had thought that maybe the parrot wasn’t normal.

She was practically a resident of the Cat Kingdom in a lot of ways, and he'd found himself having feelings that were less than professional. He sighed, looking at the most recently finished file card, the first new one in months.

The magic of the desk effectively typed the name of the client, the summary of their problem and left the summary of the case to Baron and Louise to write out, the space she'd once used now effectively absent. What made him pause was when he read the top line, where Haru's name was. It read 'Yoshioka, Haru L'.

"Curious..." He mused, "Will have to ask her about it in the future,"

He didn't want to consider what remained unsaid. The Refuge was stubborn about being found after the theft, due to the vandalism and damage that was done. If he was honest, He doubted he'd meet Haru again. It was too much to hope for. Their paths were not likely to cross.

He filled in the card, summarizing the case and writing the code for the longer file within his records on the back of the card. He then stamped down on it with the stamp to mark it resolved, whereupon it would join the others in the drawer, and…

Nothing happened, The card wasn't even marked. He did his standard test card, 'Von Gikkingen, Humbert', 'Missing Person: Von Gikkingen, Louise', writing about the theft and how she was confirmed dead. However, to his shock, again, the stamp failed. He tried his _other_ test case, filling in the name of the Cat King, 'Food Disappearances', and filled in about his discovery of his current associate.

The stamp worked perfectly, the card not disappearing only since it was known to be already filed, several dozen times over, until he came to accept Louise was gone. Baron frowned at this. The same thing that typed the names, except on the test cases, was how the stamp worked. He didn't claim to fully understand the magic, it was an extension that had appeared after Louise vanished.

All he did know was that all the stamp did normally was print 'Resolved' on the card, then the card was filed. He took out a dusty old stamp, the companion to the first one. He expected the stamp of 'Reopened. Unresolved.' on the bottom third of Haru's case when it didn't resolve, but not the minor case of Louise's disappearance.

He did two new cards, identical to the original ones, but didn't fill the card in, his way of polling the magic to get why it was not resolved. Haru's card read 'Look Outside...' cryptically, while the other, equally cryptically, stated, 'The Refuge Has Been Found...', shocking him at the implications of the second card's message.

He then heard an argument starting outside, getting up and heading to the door, barely noticing the creak of something falling open. As he was about to open the door, the argument stopped dead. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Haru, in what was clearly casual attire, having placed Muta on a table with a plate next to him, half a slice of cake being still left, as Toto was busy himself with a pot of bird seed.

Look Outside, indeed…

Apparently, despite all that he knew, Haru _**had**_ returned to the Bureau...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame a completely different story for how Princess Tutu seemed to lodge itself in this particular story, Of Fur And Feathers by YarningChick.
> 
> And yes, Ahiru is so adorable, so endearing... that Drosselmeyer pretty much _had_ to put her through Hell to make his works work...


	2. Why Haru Was There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will explain a lot of the things that came up in the first chapter. As a tip, Remember everything Baron said about how Creation Magic works with items in a Creation's house. It will be very important.

Haru sighed as she sat at the side of her mother's grave. She hadn't had anything happen since the surreal week that culminated in a visit to the Cat Kingdom. She had begun to think it had been just her mind playing tricks on her, since she didn't see Muta anywhere near the cafe, and a random attempt to recall the route from memory had only earned her a few close calls with ending up in the hospital or worse.

Over time, even the garden lost the cat tails, and no-one could remember what happened to the lacrosse sticks. At that time, she began chalking it up to an odd dream, the only side effect of the dream being that she found herself picking up fish crackers again as a form of stress relief nibble. The most mortifying moment involved in that was when she was taking her exams and she ended up cracking open a box. The examiner checked it was just fish crackers, not fortune cookies, and told her to nibble _quietly.  
_She wasn't sure what had caused the dream, or her semi-persistent snacking, but with the fact the irrefutable evidence of the former was completely gone, It was a flight of fancy, and frankly, to be honest, ridiculous, and she needed to get her head back out of the clouds. She decided that it probably was related to a new place that sold snack-size boxes of fish crackers.

However she wasn't sure how she picked up an uncanny skill with making and serving up a standard English tea service, right down to the cakes, only chalking it up to crippling boredom. Nothing more. Admittedly, She went straight for the teapot when someone came over for a discussion, which shouldn't have helped, but it always worked. There wasn't any time that voices had been raised in the Yoshioka home.  
That same teapot had been willed to her, along with the tea set, when it happened. Her mother had been going to a quilting convention, and a drunk driver had sent her off the road, someone recovering her badly injured body from the wreckage and calling for an ambulance. The only good news was that her mother could be properly laid to rest. The bad news was that most of her worldly possessions were now at Hiromi's flat, her house sold.

Once the funeral was over, she considered the fact Hiromi only had one bed, Haru's things not unpacked since she still needed to find somewhere more permanent to stay. She had a small amount of money, so she'd gone shopping, picking up a small packet of bird seed, a slice of cake and a collapsible table. She wasn't sure why she picked them up, until she noticed she'd arrived outside the cafe.  
Heading down the back alley, she started on a route over the rooftops, similar to the one she remembered, except she took several detours, telling herself it was since the table and bag of food made that path more treacherous, but soon she found herself at the Refuge, smiling as she heard the typical argument. Muta was startled when she put the cake on the table, Toto even more startled when she put out the bird seed… and Baron was startled when he opened the door to see her there.  
"Haru, I didn't expect you… What is the honour?" Baron asked, his eyes looking into the Bureau for a moment.  
"It's not good news..." Haru sighed, slumping, deciding a small lie would be acceptable, "My mother is... in the hospital. She was in a car accident..."  
"Ah… Nowhere to go in the short term," Baron stated, "Mind if you come in? I managed to fix one of the old enchantments… I had nothing better to do, and it was embarrassing for me when you arrived and I couldn't properly service you..."  
Haru looked confused, until she walked through the door, only to find herself the right scale to the Bureau. She was about to ask about it when she felt herself begin to yawn. She hadn't exactly rested, and a trip across the rooftops was not something to do late at night.  
"I guess I'm more tired than I thought..." Haru yawned, "Do you mind?"  
"I was about to go to sleep myself..." Baron admitted, not wanting to think about how, literally, Haru had arrived completely unannounced as he locked the door, "Find somewhere to sleep, and we'll talk more in the morning..."  
Haru nodded, watching him head into the back of the Bureau, and up a set of well hidden stairs. That certainly explained where Baron went when he did sleep. She was about to attempt the couch when she noticed something next to the desk in one corner of the room, a quick check of the drawers finding some sleepwear she was able to use.  
A few minutes later, she pulled the door closed, cutting off sound from the rest of the building, and was fast asleep in moments. She'd not be awake for hours...

The following morning, Baron had put away the file cards, looking round for Haru, expecting to find her on the couch, probably with a blanket her mother had made, but he couldn't see her at all. A quick check of the security system showed there had been no unexpected activations in the middle of the night.  
"Could she have got a call from the hospital?" Baron wondered, but the door was still locked. He went out to see Muta sat on the table, looking at him.  
"What's up, Baron?" Muta asked, "Surprised to not see Chicky with you..."  
"Can't see her in the Bureau..." Baron offered, "And we don't exactly have plenty of places to go..."  
"Didn't see her leave..." Muta offered, "And she left that table she brought with her… I will say something. Chicky had us pegged when she arrived... Gave me some cake and the bird brain some birdseed,"  
Baron sighed, going inside and preparing to start on his paperwork, opening one of his desk drawers to find Haru's clothes in one of them. He looked mortified, mentally wondering _where_ Haru could be if her clothes were there.  
"What the… Does everyone put their clothes in my desk drawers?! I need to lock them more often..." Baron exclaimed, checking something, "And replace the lock on that drawer outright..."  
Toto did a bird equivalent of a facepalm as Baron quickly closed the offending drawer. He'd seen that happen more times than he could remember, but the reason why it kept happening, he couldn't quite recall. All he knew was that the drawer in question had _never_ held paperwork. And the lock never worked.  
"Anyway, Muta, you know how I set up security on the Refuge?" Baron continued, Muta nodding.  
"Can't even avoid setting it off. You always know when I'm bringing a client or heading out..." He grumbled, "Is it true you have Toto's perch checked?"  
"Yes, but that's not the point. It sets off a very noticeable buzzer when someone is approaching and makes contact with certain very well chosen spots on the most common routes into the Refuge… Used to be just lights, but we don't go into that," Baron stated, "I only knew Haru had arrived because your argument stopped dead..."  
"And there was no sign Chicky left..." Muta continued, Baron nodding.  
"I don't set it off since I know where to avoid..." Baron stated, then there was a creaking sound, and they all blinked as Haru's head stuck out of what they'd all thought was part of the wall, a brief glance down the length showing that the wall had a barely noticeable bulge that likely was where the sleeping area was hidden.  
"Sorry if I disturbed you… That hinge needs oiling badly..." Haru stated, getting down, clearly wearing sleepwear, and collecting her things from the drawer, before vaulting back up into the hidden alcove, "Let me just get changed."  
The space closed back up, and the Bureau members blinked. She _hadn't_ left. They just all had forgotten that there was a sleeping area set up beside the desk, because whoever previously used it had ceased to do so. Baron looked even more mortified as he realised that there was a soundproof area just to the side of where he sat to do his paperwork.  
"I think I can remember now why people put their clothes in that drawer..." Toto cawed, clearly laughing, while Baron recomposed himself, Haru popping back out.  
"I hope you don't mind that I borrowed the sleepwear…" Haru stated, "I was actually looking for where to put my clothes when I was sleeping up there..."

A short time later, Haru was doing the kettle, Baron trying not to think that they'd been talking about her with the girl herself effectively in the same room.  
"Why do you have a soundproofed camp bed area by your desk?" Haru asked, "Not that I don't appreciate it,"  
"When a Creation uses a lot of magic, their body begins to turn back into wood. It's a very noisy and painful process..." Baron supplied, "Also, when I'm burning the midnight oil, some people forget where their bed is..."  
Baron didn't want to mention that he now remembered why it was there, and that it was _Louise_ who always used that bed, and he had his own soundproofed area for when he couldn't get up to his bed. Louise rarely used her magic excessively, and actually kept it soundproofed since it helped her sleep, which was why she kept a set of sleepwear in the drawers.  
"Anyway, I don't have anywhere really to stay while my mother is in hospital… Hiromi's place only has one bed," Haru stated, "I was hoping to stay for at least last night, then get a normal camp bed..."  
"If there's a problem with Hiromi, or you need to stay here overnight again, consider that bed yours. The original owner… no longer is able to use it..." Baron declared tersely, "You can keep using the sleepwear in the drawer if you continue using the area,"  
"Oh… Umm… Thank you," Haru stated, leaving hurriedly, the buzzer going off as several lights turned green as she headed back out of the Refuge in a minor hurry, not caring to be careful about it. Unlike when she'd arrived, where she _had_ been careful about it.  
"Very odd… Very odd indeed..." Baron mused, "Why do I feel like this is only the _beginning_ of this situation..."  
"I'm going to keep watch over her," Toto stated, "Something weird is going on..."  
Baron nodded. He still had to consider the other message… '_The Refuge Has Been Found'..._

Haru sighed as she considered what she hadn't told Baron, as she arrived at Hiromi's flat. She had needed the comfort of somewhere like the Bureau, which was quiet and discreet, to mourn, so something had drawn her to the Bureau once more. A simple will gave her a nest egg, but she didn't plan to use it yet. She couldn't afford a home on such a small amount.  
"Manage to find a homeless shelter?" Hiromi asked, trying to sound warm about the stark reality, "Well, You look well rested. Love to know how. You're a light sleeper..."  
"No, stayed with a good friend..." Haru stated, "They had a spare bed they're willing to let me use for a peppercorn rate..."  
"You tell them about..." Hiromi asked, Haru shaking her head, causing her friend to sigh, "You're going to need to tell them eventually… Anyway, We've got that model fair we're going to. Just please don't pick anything up… You can't afford it,"

The trip in question wasn't exactly scheduled as a school trip, but her school noticed it was on, and having forgotten to schedule anything for that term, the entire class were sent off to go attend. That the students were allowed to pick up some of the items which were for sale had been what made the trip ideal for the school, since it meant that they didn't even need to give a good reason for it, claiming it was some vague educational reason, and not wanting to budge.  
If Haru's mother hadn't have died, she'd have taken some money to pick up a couple of models, possibly to remind her of the Bureau, but, due to the fact she only had her inheritance, and most of that was needed for a new house, and possibly some cheap furniture, she wasn't going to be doing so.

That was until she noticed a particularly seedy man who had a large collection of 'antique replica' buildings, something about that description making her study the buildings more closely. The building that caught her attention wasn't even the centrepiece of his collection, and was nothing but a simple teahouse and cafe. None of the buildings were particularly memorable, except for the fact they had very similar styles, but the sign... '_The Baroness's Cake Shop'…_  
The style of the building even was similar to the Bureau, and most of the buildings shared similar stylings, and most of them had various people stood in the windows. That's what got her taking out the magnifying glass and tweezers that were the concession to the 'Look, Don't Touch' mentality of most people, and she tried the door, which was mercifully unlocked, only for her breath to hitch as she saw something that was even more startling than the sign…  
A very distinctive jacket and cane. She caught the coat rack carefully in the jaws of the tweezers, pulling it out and running her hand over the suit jacket. This was most definitely something that belonged to only one Baron. She could recognise the cut and fabric from touch, her cheeks reddening as she thought about why she could recognise it from touch.  
She broke out of her musings and headed towards one of the nearby staff members. She handed him the coat rack and told him that there was something suspicious about the man's display. As he studied the jacket, she rolled the cane between her fingers, a nail flicking the top up, for a blade to pop out. Yes, this was one of Baron's canes. Meaning this was one of Baron's jackets, meaning…

The Cake Shop was from the Refuge. She'd found buildings from the Refuge… What was there buildings from the Refuge doing at a model fair?! She needed fish crackers. The small box in her bag was cracked open and she began nibbling nervously as she considered what she'd just found.  
"My my my, That's an interesting jacket that I noticed you retrieve. Looks almost hand-stitched, but the size of the stitches..." The man muttered, "No-one would go to that kind of effort for something they'd put up for sale..."  
He studied the incongruous and very masculine jacket with his own magnifying glass, for him to look up, grinning like a shark, as she read, from the label he'd dropped the magnifying glass on, '_This jacket belongs to Humbert Von Gikkingen. I wish humbly to have it returned as soon as possible. If you can read this, You know where I live, so please have it to me within the hour. If not earlier.'_  
Haru knew he didn't need to leave an address. Almost anyone who would be reading that label normally would know to deliver it to the Cat Bureau at the earliest available opportunity, if not earlier. It was polite, succinct and to the point. Just like Baron. That clinched it. She'd found some of the Refuge in this man's possession. God, she was thankful she'd brought more than one box.  
"Hmm… Ms. Yoshioka, You know this man?" The man asked, not noticing how wooden her nod was as he asked, "Would you say he likely authorized the exhibition of his collection?"  
"He did not," Haru stated. The man then looked over the buildings, prodding them at the point most models would have a join, and finding none, as he muttered about 'custom-made' and 'one-off', as well as two words that Haru was clear on the meaning of... 'stolen property'...  
"So, What about yourself? Do you have any investment in this collection?" He asked, "Well, you clearly know him well, to have found that hidden message..."  
"I am a family friend… With the Cake Shop, We shared ownership," Haru stated, wondering why she'd think that, "The other buildings, I will ask him to contact you about at the earliest opportunity… I will need the jacket back,"  
She knew he'd be slightly annoyed she didn't head straight there. But she couldn't just head straight to the Refuge. It was doubtful Baron kept it open during the day.

A few hours later, she had recovered from her strange encounter, Hiromi asking about the cafe, and her telling her that an old friend had asked her to find it, and no money had been needed to change hands. She'd accepted the fact, wondering why a 'friend' would give her such a thing.  
'_It was odd, very odd… Admittedly, __It is odd for it to be called __The Refuge __if it was__ only the Cat Bureau,_' She mused, considering the ones that were being confiscated and used as part of an ongoing investigation into the true origins of the set, with Haru's lead of the Baron earning her a need to have him contact the Police at the earliest opportunity.  
Part of her was thankful that the Cat Bureau itself was not one of the buildings as she prepared to leave, noticing that some of them had figurines in the windows, suggesting the original owners were, in their own way, still 'living' there, but there was no sign of the Baroness. She'd checked every window.  
If she did get the buildings into the Refuge, with the help of Baron, she suspected it would be a very interesting experience…


End file.
